Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Phlox paniculata cultivar Indico.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Phlox plant, botanically known as Phlox paniculata, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Indico.
The new Phlox is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador. The objective of the breeding program was to create new vigorous Phlox cultivars with white-colored flowers and durable foliage.
The new Phlox originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in August, 1999 in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador of a proprietary selection of Phlox paniculata identified as Code 3, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent and an unidentified selection of Phlox paniculata, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Phlox was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador. The new Phlox was selected on the basis of its white-colored flowers.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken at El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador since August, 2000, has shown that the unique features of this new Phlox are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Indico have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity, daylength, and fertility level without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Indicoxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Indicoxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright plant habit with strong stems.
2. Vigorous growth habit.
3. Attractive white-colored flowers.
4. Freely and uniformly flowering habit.
5. Good postproduction longevity.
Plants of the new Phlox differ from plants of the female parent selection in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Phlox are more vigorous than plants of the female parent selection.
2. Plants of the new Phlox flower about four or five weeks later than plants of the female parent selection.
3. Plants of the new Phlox and the female parent selection differ in flower coloration as plants of the female parent selection have pink-colored flowers.
Plants of the new Phlox can be compared to the Phlox cultivar Ice Cap, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador, plants of the new Phlox differed from plants of the cultivar Ice Cap in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Phlox were more vigorous than plants of the cultivar Ice Cap.
2. Plants of the new Phlox had longer internodes than plants of the cultivar Ice Cap.
3. Plants of the new Phlox had shorter leaves than plants of the cultivar Ice Cap.
4. Plants of the new Phlox flowered about four to five weeks later than plants of the cultivar Ice Cap.